May and June are some of our busiest months, our schedules packed with honey bee colony inspections, pollinator and garden workshops, community garden builds, events, wasp nest removals and community celebrations. It is a joy to be working through the bees and gardens to connect people to supportive community, to change the way we think about our gardens and our city, the bees and the people that live here.

2) Marguerite Ford, Fraser Transitional House, Smith Yuen and Station Street garden makeovers – we love gathering and connecting community around pollinators and these four gardens, through partnership and collaboration, volunteer efforts and community action, are now healthy and vibrant with food for people and bees to enjoy… check out the gallery below for some photos of these pollinator friendly gardens

3) Hoops for Everyone! This was an Vancouver Foundation Neighbourhood Small Grants event that we supported and it was a joy to be a part of. Randi and Joe, featured in the photo gallery below, are talented dancers and wonderful teachers, and as a result of this one day event, there are now a collection of traditional Cree Hoop Dance hoops and larger festival style hoops, available at the Hastings Urban Farm, for everyone to enjoy! In addition, the Downtown Eastside Drum Circle will be gathering on Tuesdays to drum in the farm space, a powerful and medical beat that is healing, calming, inspiring and an honour to witness. #CultureSavesLives

4) Pollinator Markers with eartHand Gleaners Society Terroir Project and PHS Hanging Baskets with the Hastings Crossing BIA: our Pollinator Corridor Project includes baskets that are planted with pollinator friendly perennials that line East Hastings, bringing beauty to the street, providing forage for pollinators, creating meaningful opportunities for work and connecting businesses and residents, gardens, people and pollinators. eartHand Gleaners grew flax locally, harvested and processed it into fibre, dyed it with natural plant dyes, waxed it with our beeswax, and wove it into skeps to hang where pollinator friendly work is happening in the neighbourhood. What’s more, they created profiles that honour the work that our volunteers and partners put into the project, into their community. Check out the photo gallery below and look up when you walk Hastings Street!

5) Vancouver Police Department Apiary installation! This partnership has been 2years in the making and started very organically, when some VPD officers were called to one of the buildings where we have programming. They ended up poking their heads into the kitchen and taking part in our honey extraction, working alongside residents of the building. We continued the conversation, and today brought in two colonies, with the hope of building bridges between communities, breaking down stigmas and prejudices, pre-conceptions and fears, through the bees. Vancity Buzz Article